Smoking chickens!

Have you ever tried smoking your own chicken or fish?
It’s very easy. You can use a dedicated smoker or a smoking box with wood-chips in your BBQ. Or you can use the black-tea method which is the easiest, cheapest and I think, most fun.
To smoke the chicken breasts we used the black-tea method following the recipe below:

You will need:

• A BBQ with lid (like a Weber) or a stainless steel bowl or foil that you can fashion into a lid.
• A cake rack or any rack on small legs that is high enough to fit a tray underneath and wide enough to fit all your meat.
• 1/2 cup loose leaf black tea (use whatever has been sitting in the tea cupboard for too long).
• 1/2 cup brown/white/coconut sugar.
• 1/2 cup jasmin rice (stale rice is fine).
• aluminium foil to make a tray.

What to do:

• Start by getting your BBQ going and crank up the heat to 200 degrees or above.
• Create a tray from your aluminium foil that is the same size/shape as your rack. The edges should be folded/rolled up to be about an inch high all around. Place the tray on the BBQ.
• Mix together the sugar, tea and rice in a bowl and pour the mixture into your aluminium tray and spread evenly. Close the BBQ lid or cover with stainless steel bowl, aluminium dome etc.
• Now wait at least 10 minutes for your tea mixture to start smoking. The smoke will smell like caramelised tea – delicious!
• Spread out your meat on the rack in a single layer and place the rack over the smoking tea. Replace the cover/lid on the BBQ. After 10 minutes open the lid once quickly to turn the meat. Replace the lid and wait another 10 minutes. Check for doneness. Serve!

The chicken is ready when it turns golden brown. Check that it’s cooked by making a small cut, just over half-way through, into the thickest part.

Tags: chickens, cooking, recipe

Posted in Kitchen